Monday, November 1, 2010

Drainless :)

This morning my drain was taken out!! :) It feels SO good to not have to worry about it being caught on something or leaking or lifting my arm too high. I can even wear shirts without pockets and buttons to hold my drain and I can drive again. Yay!
Once it was taken out my nurse explained that it was like a stab wound and would probably leak and bleed for a couple days still, but will eventually stop and heal. One thing I do have to watch for, now that the fluid doesn't have anywhere to go, is lymphedema or swelling. I mostly have to watch for swelling under my arm. I have an appointment with my surgeon next Monday to check and see if there is any more fluid build up. If there is he will just poke a few holes and let it drain. (Hopefully not) Either way I don't care right now, I'm just very very thankful that I don't have to deal with that thing anymore. I'm also going to start physical therapy within the next week or so to get the range of motion in my arm back to normal.

Today I also went to my dermatologist to make sure no other abnormal moles come up. I'll have appointments every 3 months for the next couple of years because if anything else were to come up it would usually be within the next couple of years. He did find one mole on the back of my neck that didn't look normal. He also said it didn't look worrisome but would take it off and test it to be safe. I will find out the results for that by next Monday. Even though that wasn't great news, I couldn't help being happy when I left because I'm DRAINLESS! :)